Green Man festival in the lush Usk valley began as a tiny fireside folk festival, but without sacrificing its unpreachy aversion to commercialism, it has grown to a 15,000-capacity event. Last year's festival took place amid a mud bath that meant everyone went home physically dirty no matter how ethically clean, but this year's Green Man enjoys perfect conditions on Friday and Sunday. Somehow, the sun even shines when it's raining on Saturday.

The view across the site as Phosphorescent's majestic Song for Zula floats on the warm Friday evening air is beautiful. No advertising billboards surround the main stage, just a giant statue of the torch-brandishing Green Man himself, who flames his applause after dark. Kings of Convenience have been on the festival's wishlist for years and their headline appearance feels like a collector's item. Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe's harmonies on Homesick are sublime, and Øye's moves during I'd Rather Dance With You sublimely goofy.

Families are warmly welcomed at Green Man, and artists seem to like the idea. Edwyn Collins's son, William, on Friday duets with his dad on In Your Eyes, and on Saturday James Yorkston's old man helps him sing a rollicking a cappella version of Ivor Cutler's Hold the Barrel Steady.

John Cale, dressed in shorts and pink suit jacket, represents for Wales in his own defiantly weird way. Band of Horses' soaring big rock seems a bit out of place, and it's after-hours in the Far Out tent where the night really peaks – first with Jon Hopkins's surging electronica, then Nathan Fake's glitchily entrancing post-techno.

Platinum-selling double-Brit winner Ben Howard as closing headliner is a concession to the middle-of-the-road, but with teenagers, hipsters and crusties among the crowd, his soft-focus folk-pop has a strong mandate. The festival entreating you to care about the future looks to have a bright future of its own.

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